Quote:
Originally Posted by thejeff
I'd also like to point out that an increasingly large part of the working class doesn't have health insurance. Many low end jobs don't supply it and decent individual health insurance is far from affordable, and if you have any kind of "preexisting condition", may simply be unavailable at any price.
Those at the very bottom end of the scale often do have access to healthcare through Medicaid and other programs. It's those who are trying to climb out of the bottom rung that are screwed. Like NtJedi's single mom example. If she earns more at a job that still doesn't provide insurance, she no longer qualifies for the government programs. So she has no choice but to stay at the bottom.
Employment based health care no longer makes sense, if it ever did. The only reason it stays on, is that insurance companies stand to lose a great deal of profit, and the Republican party has spent years driving the message that government can't work and can't be trusted. And then doing their best to prove it when in power.
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Travelgate, Whitewater, Tyson foods, Hillaries amazing stock picks; Fannie Mae, Mac (including to Barrack Hussein Obama), Wm Jefferson, Barry Nagel, the mayor of detroit, PostOfficeGate, Jennifer Flowers, Espry - just a few democratic scandals that leap to mind. So the fact that you act completely ignorant of repeated democratic abuses of power suggests educating you is pointless.
However to change topics to healthcare - which I believe is a great topic for debate.
First, a few things of which you are probably unaware. The federal government is *causing* a great deal of our present problem. And before you dismiss this statement out of hand, let me show you why its so. When you think healthcare, you probably think ever increasing costs - prices that are increasing at 10+% every year.
So, every year, the federal govt. mandates a certain level of care. If you are a medicare or medicaid recipient you are entitlted to certain procedures. All well and good. However, the federal govt has never once in the *history* of the program paid for the full cost of these programs. So what happens is the federal government says you have to provide these services - and then doesn't provide the money for it.
Currently, the federal government is reimbursing at about 66% of the actual cost of providing for the service.
So, now consider if you are a hospital - your level of service is mandated. You can't deny an indigent patient medical services, yet if the service cost you $1000 and the federal govt only gives you %650 what are you going to do?
Unlike the federal government which can operate in a deficit seemingly forever, hospitals pretty much have to balance their books every year. So that $350 cost gets spread around to the people that can pay it - both insured and cash basis patients.
And every time we expand federal programs - such as this new program 'for the children' that Obama is proposing, or the prescription benefit program - the situation just gets worse.
This is one of the many examples of federal programs having unanticipated consequences. There is another problem with the federal approach.
First they are creating a sense of entitlement. I have actually heard people say they were *owed* a quadruple bypass. And they got it for free.. at a cost of over $176,000. In what way does an entitlement program encourage one to plan and conserve for ones medical needs? The fact is - it doesn't. As long as someone will foot the bill people will oversubscribe the service.
The second larger problem with the idea of health insurance - is that it no longer *IS* health insurance. I am all in favor of health insurance - but its no longer even possible to buy that in the US today.
The idea of health insurance as it was practised long ago was that *I* was responsible for the first X thousand dollars of my medical coverage. After that amount X was reached the insurer stepped in with something between 80%-100% of the coverage costs.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am in favor of the government providing basic medical services. Prenatal care, innoculations, emergeancy health care, etc.
But I am amazed that the left - the same people that worry about big government intrusion into our bedrooms (gay marriage etc), and our conversations (wireless wiretaps) are so willing to willy nilly cede complete control of their health care to a government beaurocracy.
There are a number of other factors that contribute to why our healthcare works - or doesn't work - the way it does. So, I'll give one more example: it costs more than $700 million dollars to bring a product to market in the united states. Seven Hundred MILLION. Thats because of the rules and regulations for testing, and product liability. But think about it - it means that *only* the very large companies can afford to drug trials here. And what happens when you restrict competition- prices go up.
It is easy to believe in slogans. But the good news, if I can call it that, is that the damage that barry can do in this arena is limited. He will propose more porgrams, and borrow more money to throw at it. And create a little bit more of an entitltement state - but in the end, its unsustainable even in its present form.
It is ironic - but the nucleus of McCains healthcare plan actually has the seeds of how to get out of some of this mess.
First, give every american $5000 dollars a year toward healthcare costs. Bankable or savable. But 5000 a year will pay for all the usual innoculations, and broken bones, and dental xrays. And then make things above that *your* responsbility.
Anyway.. I'm tired of typing = )